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DECISION No

DECISION No.651-TTg OF OCTOBER 10, 1995 OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR COORDINATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF VIETNAM IN ASEAN

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to Article 20 of the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

To fulfill the obligation of a member and to effectively participate in the activities and cooperation projects of ASEAN;

At the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister-Chairman of the Office of the Government,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To establish the National Committee for Coordination of the Activities of Vietnam in ASEAN (National ASEAN Committee for short) in order to assist the Prime Minister in administering the relations with ASEAN in security, political, economic, cultural, social and scientific matters.

Article 2.- The functions of the National ASEAN Committee.

The National ASEAN Committee has the following functions:

1. To collect the proposals of the Ministries, the ministerial-level agencies and the agencies attached to the Government (hereafter referred to as Government agencies) in order to propose to the Prime Minister the important guidelines related to the participation of various ministries and branches in ASEAN's activities.

2. To organize the coordination of the concerned Government agencies in carrying out the obligations and activities of Vietnam in ASEAN.

3. To assign, to supervise and to urge the Government agencies to carry out the obligations and activities of Vietnam in ASEAN.

4. To review the activities of ASEAN and of Vietnam in the Association in order to report to the Prime Minister.

5. To settle, with the delegation of powers by the Prime Minister and in accordance with the guidelines approved by the Prime Minister, the requests of the Government agencies concerning the carrying out of the obligations and activities of Vietnam in ASEAN.

6. To perform other functions assigned by the Prime Minister.

Article 3.- The National ASEAN Committee consists of:

1. The Chairman of the Committee: Deputy-Prime Minister Tran Duc Luong.

2. The members:

- The Minister-Chairman of the Office of the Government,

- The Minister of Foreign Affairs,

- The Minister-Chairman of the State Planning Committee,

- The Minister of Trade,

- The Minister of Finance.

The membership of the Committee may be extended if required by its activities.

3. The General Secretary shall be one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Office of the Government.

Article 4.- The members and the General Secretary of the Committee, besides participating in its common activities, are responsible for a specific area as provided for below:

1. The Minister-Chairman of the Office of the Government assists the Chairman of the Committee in performing all the tasks of the National ASEAN Committee.

2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs attends ASEAN Ministerial Meetings (AMM) and, after reporting to the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Committee, guides the concerned ministries and branches to carry out the decisions adopted by the AMM; assists the Chairman of the Committee to monitor the elaboration of guidelines and policies about relations with ASEAN in the political and security areas.

3. The Minister-Chairman of the State Planning Committee assist the Chairman of the National ASEAN Committee to monitor the elaboration of the economic guidelines and policies for effective participation in the cooperation projects of ASEAN.

4. The Minister of Trade attends ASEAN Economic Meetings (AEM), and after reporting to the Prime Minister and the Chairmann of National ASEAN the Committee, guides the concerned ministries and branches in carrying out the decisions adopted at the AEMs.

5. The Minister of Finance attends the meetings of the Council of AFTA, and assists the Chairman of the National ASEAN Committee to monitor the implementation of the Common Effect Preferential Tariffs (CEPT); participates in the program for establishing the Agreement on Free Trade Area (AFTA).

6. The General Secretary of the National ASEAN Committee assists the Chairman to administer and to process the day-to-day affairs of the Committee.

Article 5.- The Sub-Committees and working apparatus of the National ASEAN Committee.

1. The Sub-Committee on Economic Cooperation consists of members who are the department ranking officials and experts specialized on ASEAN from the Office of the Government, the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the Ministry of Heavy Industry, the Ministry of Light Industry, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Communication and Transport, the Ministry of Aquatic Resources, the Ministry of Forestry, the State Bank, the General Customs Department, the General Tourist Department, General Post Office, and in case of necessity, other persons assigned by these ministries and agencies on a part-time basis.

2. The Sub-Committee on Specialized Cooperation consists of members who are department ranking officials and experts specialized on ASEAN from the Office of the Government, the State Planning Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Health, the Committee on Ethnic and Mountainous Affairs, and in case of necessity, other persons assigned by these ministries and agencies on a part-time basis.

3. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee is the assisting body of the Committee located at the Office of the Government, and is at the same time a specialized department administered by the Minister-Chairman of the Office of the Government to assist the Prime Minister in multilateral and bilateral cooperation relations with ASEAN and its member countries.

Article 6.- The working mechanism of the National ASEAN Committee.

1. The National ASEAN Committee meets regularly once every three months. In case of necessity, the Chairman of the Committee may invite the Heads of the concerned Government agencies to attend meetings of the Committee. The Chairman of the Committee may convene extraordinary meetings at the request of the Prime Minister, or on the demand of one or several members of the Committee. The Chairman of the Committee shall deliver the final conclusion on the issues raised at the meetings of the Committee.

2. The members of the Committee may invite the concerned Government agencies to discuss the issues related to the fulfillment of their duties in the Committee as provided for in Article 4 of this Decision.

3. The Office of the Government shall provide expenditures and means for the activities of the National ASEAN Committee.

4. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee shall sum up the information from the National ASEAN Secretariat, the SEOM and other Government agencies in order to present it in weekly reports to the National ASEAN Committee; organize meetings of the Sub-Committees, and carries out other duties assigned by the Chairman of the Committee.

5. The Sub-Committee on Economic Cooperation and the Sub-Committee on Specialized Cooperation meet regularly once every two months to review the participation of Ministries and branches in the cooperation activities of ASEAN, and make proposals to the National ASEAN Committee for examination and decision.

Article 7.- This Decree takes effect from the date of its signing.

The Chairman of the National ASEAN Committee, the Members and the General Secretary of the National ASEAN Committee, the Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies; the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government shall have to implement this Decision.

The Prime Minister

VO VAN KIET